Gawyn raised an eyebrow. What was wrong with this person?
"Forgive her, my Lord," Dimana said. "Marille spent a long time as a damane, and is having difficulty adjusting."
"You're Seanchan?" Gawyn said. Of course. I should have noticed the accent.
Marille nodded vigorously. A former damane. Gawyn felt a chill. This woman had been trained to kill with the Power. The third woman remained silent, watching with curious eyes. She didn't look nearly as subservient.
"We should be moving on," Dimana said. "It isn't good for her to see things that remind her of Seanchan. Come, Marille. That is merely a token Lord Trakand won in battle, I suspect."
"No, wait," Gawyn said, holding up a hand. "You recognize this blade?"
Marille looked to Dimana, as if requesting permission to answer. The Kinswoman nodded sufferingly.
"It is a Bloodknife, my Lord," Marille said. "You did not win it in battle, because men do not defeat Bloodknives. They are unstoppable. They only fall when their own blood turns against them."
Gawyn frowned. What nonsense was this?
"So this is a Seanchan weapon?"
"Yes, my Lord," Marille said. "Carried by the Bloodknives."
"I thought you said this was a Bloodknife."
"It is, but that is also who carries them. Shrouded in the night, sent by the Empress's will may she live forever to strike down her foes and die in her name and glory." Marille lowered her eyes farther. "Marille speaks too much. She is sorry."
"I am sorry," Dimana said, a hint of exasperation in her tone.
"I am sorry," Marille repeated.
"So these . . . Bloodknives," Gawyn said. "They're Seanchan assassins?" He felt a deep chill. Could they have left behind suicide troops to kill Aes Sedai? Yes. It made sense. The murderer wasn't one of the Forsaken.
"Yes, my Lord," Marille said. "I saw one of the knives hanging in the room of my mistress's quarters; it had belonged to her brother, who had borne it with honor until his blood turned against him."
"His family?"
"No, his blood." Marille shrank down farther. "Tell me of them," Gawyn said urgently.
"Shrouded in the night," Marille said, "sent by the Empress's will may she live forever to strike down her foes and die in "
"Yes, yes," Gawyn said. "You said that already. What methods do they use? How do they hide so well? What do you know of how this assassin will strike?"
Marille shrank down farther at each question, and began to whimper.
"Lord Trakand!" Dimana said. "Contain yourself."
"Marille doesn't know very much," the damane said. "Marille is sorry. Please, punish her for not listening better."
Gawyn pulled back. The Seanchan treated their damane worse than animals. Marille wouldn't have been told anything specific of what these Bloodknives could do. "Where did you get these damane!" Gawyn asked. "Were any Seanchan soldiers captured? I need to speak with one; an officer, preferably."
Dimana pursed her lips. "These were taken in Altara, and only the damane were sent to us."
"Dimana," the other woman said. She didn't have a Seanchan accent. "What of the sul'dam! Kaisea was of the low Blood."
Dimana frowned. "Kaisea is . . . unreliable."
"Please," Gawyn said. "This could save lives."
"Very well," Dimana said. "Wait here. I will return with her." She took her two charges toward the palace, leaving Gawyn to wait anxiously. A few minutes later, Dimana returned, followed by a tall woman wearing a pale gray dress without belt or embroidery. Her long black hair was woven into a braid, and she seemed determined to remain precisely one step behind Dimana an action that bothered the Kinswoman, who seemed to be trying to keep an eye on the woman.